Shanmugam – China’s BRI good for China and participating countries

Minister K Shanmugam: China a “world leader” and the BRI “the most ambitious project” in human history:
 
“The project was bold, imaginative and ambitious, and exemplifies the vision of a country that is currently the world leader in many aspects of infrastructure technology. China has also been very strategic in the way it has been investing, linking up with other countries and building relationships, and its companies are prepared to take risks and invest in large infrastructure projects… the BRI is arguably the most ambitious infrastructure project in history with the potential to bring Eurasia, China and Southeast Asia even closer together… It’s in China’s interest – and ours too – that its rise to great power status, or even superpower status, is peaceful and is seen to be peaceful… The rise of China is likely to be the largest world economy in absolute terms, though not in per capita terms. Technologically and militarily, China will become a more significant player over the next 20 to 30 years.”.... “It must be acknowledged that the country has achieved results for its people over the last 35 years on a scale that no other country in history has – both in terms of the speed of progress and the number of people who have made the leap from poverty to prosperity. China has been showing its detractors are getting it wrong. Its success in the field of science and technology, contradict claims that its political system does not allow innovation.” thestatestimes.
 
Singapore has officially put it on record the importance of China’s BRI project that would benefit all the countries participating in the project as well as countries not wanting to participate, notably India, Japan and the USA. From the start China has kept the door open and invited every country to be part of the BRI. India, Japan and the USA refused to participate for political reasons. They knew how valuable is this peaceful economic initiative that would boost connectivity and trade between Asia, SE Asia and Europe.
 
These three countries are going to lose out due to their narrow mindedness and selfish political interests. India would be left out in the cold and be bypassed. Good riddance. Japan and the USA, both technology and engineering power house with many big companies that could participate in the massive infrastructure projects could kick their own asses for not wanting or be allowed to be part of the scheme of things by their respective govts. Now they too are left out in the cold and cursing their govts for playing the spoiler game.
 
It is good that these countries opted out themselves from the BRI and not be in to be trouble makers. China should just leave it that way, no need to bother to invite them in again. And if they wanted in, treat them the same way they treated China when the latter applied for membership to the IMF. Just keep them outside the door with all the barriers to let them have a taste of their own medicine.
 
The BRI would go ahead in full steam with or without India, Japan or the USA. Let it be and let them be. A good project that is beneficial to all countries would be beneficial to all that could see the benefits. There is no need to hard sell the project. The BRI sells by itself. Only the blind could not see how important is this BRI project. India, Japan and the USA would be the real losers for playing the bad guys.

SEA Game - A picture is worth a thousand words

I just have to post this for all to see. Video credit to Mothership.SG

China hopes India has learnt from Doklam stand off

The Indians withdrew their soldiers from Chinese territory prior to Modi attending the BRICS Summit in China. India announced that both Chinese and Indian troops have withdrawn from the area for some face saving. Why or how would Chinese troops have to withdraw from being in Chinese territory?
 
From this statement it clearly shows that India did not learn anything despite China’s warning and military build up to drive the Indian soldiers from its territory. While China has never treated India as enemy, India has consistently treated China as enemy for many reasons. The land that India claimed were never India's land in the first place. Neither was India a natural country but a contrived amalgamation of land put together when the British colonized the subcontinent and called it their colony, and subsequently gave it independence, lock, stock and barrel, including all the land the British seized from China arbitrarily by drawing a new map with new borders in the British favour.
 
This land grabbing by the British, and subsequently the Indians too want to claim that these were Indian land is the seed of territorial dispute between India and China that led to the first Sino Indian border war in 1962. India is insistent to keep these land the British grabbed from China when it was not a country, not a nation. India is a country of mix bags of loose states put together by the British, at one time including Pakistan and Bangladesh.
 
India also harbours the grandeur of big power status and felt aggrieved that China is richer and more powerful and also sees that as a sore point. To India, China cannot be better and more powerful than India. India’s mission is to be richer and more powerful than China and is also in its own race and haste to out perform China. Though China has no historical enmity with India, very few records of historical territorial disputes or invasion, India has been psychoing itself that China is going to invade to run over India. China is the demon that India has created for itself and unable to shrug off this make belief.
 
China has been very patient and tolerant in this border incursion by India and has given India all the time and space to withdraw peacefully. But this kindness would not be appreciated and would be seen by the Indians as a sign of weakness and would encourage the Indians for more border incursions in the future.
 
This withdrawal is not the end of the Indian story and more would come. China should not have any misplaced hope that India has learnt any lesson in Doklam. Their mentality would push them for more mischiefs in the borders separating the two countries.
 
India is behaving like the Americans and the West in trying to stop the growth and rise of China. It refused to be part of the BRI and ended up being left out in the cold with progress and development bypassing the Indian subcontinent. If there is anything the Indians could learn from China to achieve its wet dream of becoming a rich super power, it should take a close look at how China progresses and leapfrogged over Europe and Japan to become the second superpower in all ways and going to overtake the Americans in a matter of time.
 
The Chinese did not try to create trouble for anyone but put their heads together to work really hard, planned their growth path and put every ounce of energy into it to make China what it is today. It is all about undying effort and determination, a lot of sweat and tears to rebuild a new China, staying away from wars and political bickering. If India could see this success formula and get its act together, it is a matter of time before India would also be a success story. The daily bickering and self delusion of greatness would not make India great but a chain to hold back India's rise as another superpower. 

Would India learn from the China experience and work for its own success rather than trying to be a bad boy in the region, behaving like the Americans and the West, and now hiding under cloak and dagger with the Japanese to derail the Chinese growth engine.
 
The American experience is tragic failure as a big power is another case for India to learn. Spent your money and resources wisely on economic reconstruction and development instead of wasting precious resources on arms and the military and everyday thinking of war.  And stop lying with the myth that China is going to invade India. The Americans have squandered their decades of being the top dog by investing in nothing but military and weapons of wars. They have given up their leadership in economic development and the leader in science and technology for the good of mankind. Their only product today is weapons of war and to pursue wars to sell their weapons of destruction.

Today at Hong Lim Park - Elected President

''HongLim Park (Clarke Quay MRT) this Sat (2 Sep 17) from 4.30pm and be advised on how to vote at PE 2017.''

I thought this talk was off. Come and listen to the various speakers and decide for yourself! I think Lim Tean is the keynote speaker.

Can someone confirm if this is still on after the notification by the authorities on the zip on the EP issue with the impending election.

Chan Chun Sing – Preparing our workers for tomorrow’s jobs

Leong Sze Hian raised some concerns about what the govt is doing to provide jobs to the present lot of PMETs that have lost their jobs to foreigners that came as tourists and ended up happily employed while the PMETs ended up jobless or underemployed. Here is what Leong Sze Hian wrote in his article posted in TRE.
 
‘I refer to the article “Adult education system has to evolve to ‘get tomorrow’s jobs for today’s Singaporeans’: Chan Chun Sing” (Straits Times, Aug 26).
 
It states that “Singapore has to keep evolving its adult education system, so that its people are one step ahead of others in this rapidly changing economy, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing on Saturday (Aug 26)….
 
“There is no point for us to get yesterday’s jobs, or even today’s jobs, for today’s Singaporeans,” he added. “The question is whether we can get tomorrow’s jobs for today’s Singaporeans.””
Tourists come to compete for jobs?
 
Arguably, what’s the point of being “equipped with the skill sets for tomorrow’s jobs, rather than just today’s jobs”, when practically everyday – we may be the only developed country in the world that allows practically every Tom, Dick and Harry, to come as tourists to look for jobs, and stay when they find one?’
 
I must say I agree with both Chan Chun Sing and Leong Sze Hian’s comments. What is the point of preparing Singaporean for today’s jobs when they have already gone to the foreigners and also they were not prepared for these jobs? Either way the Singaporeans are the losers.
 
And, in Leong’s comment, what is the point of equipping Singaporeans with tomorrow’s job skills when foreigners could walk in as tourists to steal their jobs?
 
My conclusion is that both knew that it is a serious problems and both solutions are no solutions to the problems of the PMETs. It is as good as doing for the sake of doing but ending up doing nothing or no result. My recommendation, to save the time and effort of everyone, don’t do anything. Just let it be since both situations did not solve anything.
 
Unless they are going to stop foreigners coming here as tourists and happily applying for jobs. Unless they are going to be serious and start to apply some control and quota on the number of foreigners being approved for jobs here, everything else is nonsense.
 
Saying this is easy, but implementing it is difficult unless they are going to make companies and HR professionals doing the hiring, responsible for hiring Singaporeans first and not going through the motion with no intention of hiring Singaporeans but to hire more foreigners.
 
How to do it? The MOM must be serious and hands on and put in policies and people to manage the situation like making sure HR professionals are Singaporeans and answerable to MOM. The details could be a bit more complicated than just these. Worth the trouble to do it? Worth the trouble to look after Singaporeans or never mind, foreigners are more important? Singaporeans you die your business?
 
Just look at these numbers put up by Leong and ask what the fuck is happening.
‘…from 2015 to 2016 – it is estimated that almost none of the 11,400 jobs growth (37,300 foreigners’ jobs growth) to locals – actually went to Singapore born true-blue Singaporeans (61,005 new PRs and 42,917 new citizens granted in the same two-year period)?’
 
Even if this is 50% correct it is a serious problem. But more likely this is nearly 100% correct as Leong’s data are from official sources.

PS. Today's Singaporeans not getting today's jobs is never mind.

North Korean missile test – Freedom of Navigation

While every country has the right to develop their own defense weapons to protect themselves, the American outlaw and its crony allies are saying the North Koreans cannot do so despite the daily threats of an American invasion. Now the North Koreans are testing their ICBMs in over flights over Japan and both Japan and the Americans are crying foul. Did the Americans and Japanese remember anything about freedom of navigation? Can the North Koreans exercise this right to fly over Japan peacefully? A missile test with unarmed warhead cannot be more threatening than B52s, B1s armed with nuclear weapons or American destroyers similarly armed, flying and sailing in other countries’ territorial waters and airspace.
 
What are American and Japanese satellites overflying North Korean territories daily and snooping on NK compared to the missiles flying over Japan?
 
The Americans are threatening war again. And so is Japan. Now, would it be nice for the Americans and Japanese to give the North Koreans a reason to drop a couple of nuclear bombs over Tokyo or Osaka or any big Japanese city? Can the Japanese absorb such a consequence and live with it like Hiroshima and Nagasaki? If not, then both the Americans and Japanese should tone down their war drums and be more civilized and go talk to the North Koreans. Threatening a preemptive nuclear strike is easy but the consequences of millions of casualties in Japan are no joke. Can Japan afford a nuclear bomb on one of it’s big cities?
 
The warmongers should stop their madness and use their heads for a moment and return to sanity. War is no longer an option in the Korean Peninsula except for mad men and women.
 
The more the mad men and women threaten war with North Korea, the more they would lose their credibility unless they dare to start a war. Come to think of it this is not an issue, not important. The most important part about all the ratcheting and drum beating for war is that Japan, South Korea and that Americans would have more reasons to buy more weapons. And so would little USAs that fear North Korea in their drugged non thinking leaders’ head and also want to buy more weapons. It is good for the weapon makers and arms merchants. A lot of money to be made. The American war machine makers must send a big bonus or commission to Kim Jong Un for fattening their pockets.

PS. Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all Muslim readers.

The Americans owe Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia a big apology

The embarrassing accident involving USS John McCain and an oil tanker in Singapore waters has come to a close. The 10 missing sailors have been found inside the cabin of the ship. They were not flung into the open sea as was initially thought or believed so. Only sailors on the open deck would be thrown off the ship in an accident like this.
 
What happened in this case was quite obvious. The container hit the port side of the destroyer right in the middle section and just above sea water level. The dent just caved in but no open hull. Nothing would have come out from the ship. It was pretty clear that the sailors were trapped inside the ship, sealed inside the cabin. Period.
 
Why was this information not made known to the Singapore, Malaysian and Indonesian forces that were madly scrambling around trying to be helpful, to look helpful when it was all a wild goose chase? Why made these helpful people looked like fools running around the surrounding sea and worrying that they did not do a good job to find the bodies of the sailors, or maybe a survivor?
 
Are the American so novice like the Singapore, Malaysian and Indonesian forces, not knowing what really happened and madly running around without knowing what was happening? The aimless search involving so many people and resources was totally a waste of time and money and could have been stopped from the word go. There was no need to make these kindhearted though a bit dumb people looking more dumb chasing the dragon when there was no need to.
 
The Americans owe the Singapore, Malaysian and Indonesian a big apology for allowing this fiasco to go on. They should not just stop at apologizing but to foot the bill for all the expenses incurred in the intensive search by all the parties concerned. Otherwise, not only the goodwill is lost, next time no one would want to volunteer to look like fools again when such an incident happened again.
 
Can’t imagine the Americans grinning and laughing away at the silliness in the open sea, in the sky, searching for nothing, day and night, non stop.

The Indians have it

India was and is never a great financial centre. When one talks about financial centres, it is often about New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and even Singapore. It is never about Mumbai or some other Indian cities. Singapore is a financial centre in SE Asia and with great ambition to be a world financial centre to overtake Hong Kong or constantly in competition with Hong Kong for the prestigious position. This did not happen yesterday but for several decades even before 1965.
 
What has happened today is that there is a dearth of Singaporeans in top banking and finance positions. The handful that are still hanging around would soon be passé and with no worthy successors. Very likely some foreigners would replace them in UOB or OCBC. And very likely the foreigners replacing them would be foreign Indian talents.
 
Never without fail, daily, the media would have the faces of top Indian bankers in the news employed by banks in Singapore, both local and foreign banks. This is solid proof that the Indians are great bankers and prized catch for the banking industry. They must be very good. Long gone were the days when Singaporeans were in top positions in local and foreign banks in Singapore. Somehow, somewhere, sometime, there was an eclipse, and all the Singaporean brains were eclipsed and no longer good enough to be top bankers. At the way things are moving, in another decade at most there would be no Singaporeans helming banks in Singapore, not even local banks. This is if the daft continues with their foolish and blind meritocracy regardless of nationalities. Pure unabridged meritocracy will ruin Singapore in this case. The best from the world would simply be too good for Singaporeans. And the Indian best are already well too good to outshine every Singaporeans not only in banking and finance, but in IT, in law, in medicine and in the academia and many other industries.
 
During the time of Goh Keng Swee, there was a deliberate and conscious effort to put Singaporeans in top positions in banks operating here. Unless such an affirmative policy is implemented again, Singapore as a top financial centre will be a financial centre without Singaporeans except newly printed Singaporeans.
 
Would the govt think there is a need to act on this trend? Would the govt think it is a strategic interest to want to have Singaporeans to helm local banks and even foreign banks setting up business here? If this is important, strategic, then the govt must act now and quickly. Oops, I remember someone in govt once said, the process has been set in place and in 50 years time we would have our top bankers, top Singaporean bankers in charge. In 50 years time you know what would happen to the banking and finance industry?
 
Let’s not con ourselves. If the govt is serious, it must go back to the policies of Goh Keng Swee and do something positive. For a start, Singaporeans must be assigned to be trained under the Indians running the banks in Singapore and with an open and declared official policy to have Singaporeans as top bankers and running banks operating here. If not, more and more top foreign Indian bankers would find themselves taking over the top positions of banks here simply because they are the best banking talents. Daft Singaporeans have no answer to this and Singapore will bankrupt its pool of Singaporean talent in the banking and finance industry just like in the IT industry and soon the academia. Then it will be a case of by default all top banking positions would be filled by foreigners as there are no Singaporeans with the talent and experience to fill them.
 
Is this a serious problem? It depends on who you are and what you think is important and not important. If the top are only thinking about water taxes and sugar taxes and who is a Malay, you can bet this is not a strategic problem to be worth spending time on.

Reserved EP for Malays – A status report

So far from all that we know, 3 candidates, Halimah Yacob, Salleh Marican and Farid Khan, are the likely candidates for the EP. And if I am not mistaken, all 3 candidates are likely to have ‘Indian’ recorded in their BCs or ICs as their race. I may be wrong, but does it matter if this is the case?
 
We are going to have a reserved EP specially created just to elect a Malay to be the President. Isn’t this the case? In this instance the 3 candidates are legally Indians if I am right and. I admit I did not have the privilege to look at their ICs or BCs. If I am right in this, would it mean that 3 Indians, legally speaking, are standing for election as Malay candidates for the EP reserved for Malays?
 
Would the candidates put on record what is their official race by showing to the people their ICs and BCs? Be transparent! This is the time for transparency. Or would it be like what Lawrence Wong said, ‘Our policy is not transparency for transparency sake. Our approach is that transparency leads to good governance’? In this case is transparency necessary or not, or does this EP not lead to good governance?
 
If the 3 candidates are legally Indians and standing as Malays in an election specially provided to elect a Malay, is there anything wrong? Is the legal identity of a person important in this case?
 
Don’t ask me for an answer. My view is not important on this matter.

Too many American warships in Asian waters

The spade of accidents involving American warships in Asian waters is rising simply because there are just too many American warships in the region to guard the American Empire and to conduct silly Freedom of Navigation patrols. Why should there be so many American warships in the region when the USA is thousands of miles away? Or is the region an American swimming pool, a lake owned by the American Empire?
 
The accident involving USS John McCain and an oil tanker, Alnic MC in the overlapping sea of Singapore and Malaysia is raising many eyebrows. It is another case of too many American warships in the surrounding sea, and a sea route with many heavy commercial ships plying and transiting the narrow stretch of sea.
 
What has been highlighted as contributing factor to the incident is that the American warship was not detected by the Singapore Port Authority’s Vessel Traffic Information System unlike the Alnic. Thus the Port Authority could not forewarn the ships of an impending collision. Why? It is compulsory for all commercial ships in the area to switch on their AIS for identification purpose. But the American destroyer did not have to unless they chose to. How could this be allowed in an area with heavy shipping traffic is questionable. Why the exception and increasing the risk of accidents? This is Singapore’s territorial waters and all ships must follow and obey the rules and practices of Singapore’s Maritime Authority with no exceptions.
 
The American warships must be ordered to switch on their AIS when in our waters. Not switching on AIS is definitely unacceptable practice and pose a danger to all the commercial shipping in the area. Unbelievable that such a thing is allowed. American Exceptionalism or angmoh tua kee? Why put the safety of commercial ships at risk because of foreign military ships here that should not be here in the first place? And with their stealth technology and coating, most of the time these military ships are invisible to the commercial ships’ radar. Only the Americans can see the commercial ships and not the other way. And if they slept on the job, the risk of accident is lagi high.
 
There will be no such incidents if the American warships are not here in the first place.
 
KNN.

PLA's 90th birthday

Below is a video on the massive PLA parade marking its 90th birthday. If China had such a military force in the early 1900s, it would not have been invaded by the foreigners and Japan. Any country still thinking of attacking China needs to think doubly hard on what they would be up against. Japan still harbouring the thought of conquering China?

China holds military parade to mark PLA 90th birthday 庆祝中国人民解放军建军90周年阅兵

What, US$10 billion only?

The Malaysian govt is conducting an inquiry into the forex losses by the central bank in the 1990s. What is amusing is that the former assistant governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid was quoted as saying, ‘After I gave him the explanation, Anwar commented that should the true figures of the forex losses be revealed to the public, he would have to resign as finance minister.’
 
What, a finance minister would have to resign all because the central bank lost US$10 billion in forex trading? How can? Firstly the trading was not done or conducted by the finance minister but by professional traders and bank managers. Why should the finance minister be held responsible and had to resign?
 
Secondly, the trading personnel were just doing their jobs, though coming up losers, they were honest mistakes. Any fund managers would have such bad days and lost their pants once or several times in their life time. They are doing everything legally and professionally. Why should anyone be held responsible for the loss and of all the people, the finance minister?
 
Thirdly, it is rare to have fund managers with such experience, losing billions. The experience is invaluable and should be seen as a credit, not that it is something to gloat about. At least such experienced people, very rare to come by, would know how to avoid making the same mistakes again. They are invaluable. They should be promoted and given bigger bonuses to retain them in the banks. The experience is paid by a heavy price. Even if they cannot perform any better, they can be paraded around as living examples of people that lost billions for the country, people that lost the country’s national reserves.
 
Fourthly, if someone is to answer for the losses, pick a scapegoat at the lower level management. QED.
 
Fifthly, this happened in the 1990s, over, passé, why bother to bring this up again? This is water under the bridge. It is time to move on.
 
The Malaysian govt cannot be accused of wanting to make use of this incident to gain political mileage and to slaughter a few political enemies right? What is US$10 billion? Peanuts!
 
Sixthly, where is the mirror? Look into the mirror for the bigger culprit.
 
The daft Americans have sacked the Commander of the US 7th Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, for the two accidents involving American destroyers. How stupid can the Americans be when the Commander was not driving the destroyers directly but sleeping in his office in HQ? He has nothing to do with the accidents. Just sack the Commanders of the destroyers would do. And to think about it, a Japanese Commander would have committed hara kiri in similar incidents.
 
So impractical, so daft. They would lose all their talents doing such silly things. Or no one would want to be commanders when they are held responsible for the mistakes of their subordinates.

Let’s pray

Smug human beans and those that are materially successful tend to sneer and despise the poor that went down on their knees to pray to God or heaven or whatever deities or spirits they could seek to give them a helping hand. Such practices have been perpetuated throughout human civilization till today. The hapless, the helpless, the poor have no one to look to and in desperation turn to the supernatural as a last resort. The natural aristocrats, the royalties, the elite would quietly sneered at their stupidity. The arrogant would laugh haughtily at these pathetic beans and their desperate ways.
 
Don’t laugh, go to all the places and houses of worship, they are all praying. Even the fallen rich, fallen elites or aristocrats would go down on their knees to pray when they hit hard times.
Looking around at what is happening in this little piece of rock, it looks increasingly real and meaningful to pray to the supernatural when all else do not seem to work. Yes, the Sinkies are in desperation. Ok, not all Sinkies are in such a dire state, but those that were, their only hope is for the supernatural to do something. Many are hoping against all hopes that there is indeed a super bean out there to come to their aid when all else fails.
 
Everyone in the wrong side of the equation is hoping and praying for the mysterious hand to make things right. What else can they do? Yes, nothing. Their ancestors have done this through the millennia and today is no difference.
 
Let’s pray that wrong should be righted and goodness shall prevail over evil.
Everyone please go down on your knees. There is no shame to pray. You are just hapless poor human beans with on power to do anything to help yourself. Only the One that could work mysteriously could help you.
 
Let’ pray like what our forefathers do in times of desperation and when hope is the only thing to cling on to. For those that are successful and fearless, that what they are are due to their exceptional abilities and talent, there is no need to pray. They are gods themselves and untouchable, and praying is a very silly thing that only the losers will do. God will only help those that help themselves. For those who have, more would be added to them. Amen.

PS. Foe the successful, there is no need to pray for all their wants have been granted. They could even grant wishes if you pray to them. In the mean time keep sneering at the losers. 

Mahathir’s definition of a Malay

‘Mahathir simplified the meaning of being a Malay by saying to be a Malay, one has to speak the Malay language, follow the Malay customs and be a Muslim…. To be a Malay, said Mahathir, is no more an ethnic thing as today it is more of a legal matter.’
 
What or who should be the authoritative source of what is a Malay? Singapore’s has its own definition of what is a Malay. According to Article 19B of the Singapore Constitution, "any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community" is qualified to run as a candidate for the reserved EP for Malays.
 
The encyclopedia, Wikipedia, dictionary and all the anthropologists would have their own definition of what is a Malay. With so many different definitions, the final answer for a Malay is that everyone can be a Malay and everyone can also not be a Malay.

A person can change his nationality, can change his religion, even change his father, but no one can change his/her racial blue print. Race is biological, You cannot change your DNA, at least for now until the scientists find a way to alter them. Then a Caucasian can be a Mongoloid or vice versa. A Negrito or Afrikaan can be Caucasian or whatever.
 
Race is not a legal matter but ethnicity, not even cultural, it is biological.
 
A chicken that can swim and quack like a duck and calling itself a duck is a duck, or still a chicken?

Is the Govt short of money?

The slew of taxes coming from the Govt is not a good sign. When a govt is desperately churning out more and more taxes, it is a sign that something is wrong, financially. Why would a govt be raising taxes so often when there is no need to, ie, when it is financially sound, when there is no need to squeeze more money from the people? The most important thing to do in judging the Govt’s financial position is what it is doing, spending more money or collecting more taxes. This is a good guide to the health of the govt’s coffer.
 
Why do I ask such a question, Is the Govt short of money? I did not follow the ND Rally but noticed that everyone is talking about a sugar tax. I quote this from thestatestimesreview, ‘The Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday (Aug 22) announced that it is now “studying” sugar tax following dictator Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech on diabetes. The MOH has created a committee, “Diabetes Prevention and Care Taskforce”, to implement the sugar tax:’
 
Diabetes is a health issue. Telling the people not to consume too much sugar is a good thing. And the people will know that this is a good thing and would be most willing to listen to good advice. This is not something like littering and a fine is needed to keep people from littering.
 
Why is there a need to impose a sugar tax to keep people from taking more sugar? Is sugar a drug, like cigarette or liquor? Oh, maybe it is like water, so subject to tax to make the people know how important it is not to waste water/sugar. No, sugar is a staple food, an essential food that everyone needs, like salt and rice. To think of imposing a sugar tax is outrageous unless there are more to it than meet the eyes. Is the Govt so short of money that it is finding every excuse to raise taxes? If not, which idiot is thinking that this is a good idea? What’s next, too much salt is bad, raise salt tax. Too much rice is bad, carbohydrate is also a major cause of diabetes, so raise rice tax?
 
What utter rubbish! Everything also wants to tax. So desperate for money? No, no, really? Then what is the real reason behind this thinking on sugar tax? Running out of ideas? Taxing the people is fun yah? May I suggest this, tell the daft people good quality sugar must be priced higher so people would not buy too much sugar because it is expensive?
 
Why doesn’t the Govt make consuming excessive sugar a crime? Then can impose fine for buying or consuming too much sugar. Make the people wear a sugar counter on their necks to measure how much they take and fine them accordingly if exceeded the limit? 

Have these people gone crazy, money crazy?

Why is China hesitating and not chasing the Indian soldiers out of its territory?

The Indian soldiers have been in the Chinese territory on the Sino Bhutan border on the pretext of protecting Bhutan’s territory from China. They moved in to stop the Chinese from building roads in an area between China and Bhutan that is not Indian territory. China has given several warnings for the Indians to withdraw voluntarily but the Indians have stayed put in defiance, violating Chinese territorial integrity.
 
The Indians arrogantly spoke of their superior military strength and completely ignored the Chinese warnings. They have reasons to do so as they came well prepared just like in 1962. The Chinese were caught off guard as their people on the ground were construction workers with a few border guards that were not prepared for an Indian incursion. The Indians have been amassing their troops at the border and any hasty and unprepared reaction by the Chinese border guards would be dealt a severe blow by the Indians.
 
India has been preparing for this day since the humiliating defeat in the 1962 Sino Indian border war. The shame inflicted on the Indians was too much to swallow and till today they are still claiming that they were caught unprepared despite building up a dedicated 4th Army Corp specifically to seize the disputed territories from China. Now they have stationed their elite 33rd Army at the border region, all prepared for war with China. The 33rd Army is backed by Brahmos missiles, Sukhoi 30s bought from Russia, Apache helicopters and field guns and tanks bought from the Americans. The Chinese would be knocked unconscious if they dared to chase the Indian soldiers out of their territory without proper preparations.
 
This is a major reason why the Chinese are still not acting. They would also want the whole world to know that it is the Indians that are encroaching on Chinese land. In the meantime they would need to move in their air force, armies and anti aircraft and anti missile units to defend against the Indian forces lined up along the Sino Indian border. The Indians are very confident that they could take on the Chinese and avenge their defeat in 1962 this time with a well prepared military force, like their very well prepared 4th Army Corp. Only after the humiliating defeat then that they put blame on their unpreparedness. This time they are on record claiming that they are well prepared and would win this war and could not hide under another excuse of not being prepared if defeated again. And this time it is on record that they have intruded into Chinese territory.
 
The Chinese would need time to prepare themselves in the face the massive deployment of Indian forces along the border. This is not going to be a quick and decisive war with just foot soldiers. It is going to involve missiles, artillery and the air forces unless the Chinese can get it over with quickly. While everyone is wondering when would this war begin, the Chinese would be building up their forces to meet the Indian forces, might with might, men for men, machine for machine. This is not play play game. This is serious and going to be big. A military offensive to defend their territory occupied by an invading force cannot be taken lightly.

Commuters must beg for fare hikes to improve quality of service

'Totally waiting for Khaw boon wan to emerge with a champion solution of raising MRT fares to raise standards. Look at what the past few fare hikes have given Singaporeans. Did it give us better service standards?' Sandra Chin

Sandra Chin posted an article in the TRE about the numerous fare hikes but with no improvement in train services, rather more serious failures and stoppages on a daily basis. She is aghast and frustrated like many commuters. Everyone is hoping for PAP's fix all expert Khaw Boon Wan to fix this problem fast but after more than a year, things did not seem to improve.

As I have stated way back then when Boon Wan volunteered to solve the MRT problem after the success in building more HDB flats to cut down the queue and runaway prices, this may also be a self inflicted problem like the HDB. In the HDB's case it was easier as the cause of the problem was not building enough flats or slowing down the building of more flats in Mah Bow Tan's watch.

In the MRT case, it was neglect in maintenance and engineering services that led to an accumulation of faults and shortfalls in maintenance. Short of a major revamp, the overload in capacity due to rise in ridership and years of maintenance neglect would not be so easily resolved.

The other problem as raised by Sandra Chin as the cause of poor services must be not enough fare hikes or fare hikes not high enough. Maybe, I say maybe, commuters should beg the MRT to raise fares so that services can be improved quickly. As we have heard this mantra for years, you want good services, better quality services, be prepared to pay more.

So, commuters, please go down on your knees and beg for more fare hikes. The quality of service would definitely improve and the regular and daily stoppages, breakdowns, slowdowns and delays could disappear over night. Pay hikes or higher pays, or higher fees are the miracle cures for social, economic and system problems in this island. Everything can be solved or will be solved by paying more.

See the quality of our graduates, after paying so many years of tuition fee hikes, all now so qualified to drive taxis! Today we are the city that have the most and highest qualified taxi drivers in the world. See how they compete with foreigners with poor degrees or degrees from degree mills and ended up working as temps or short term contract staff! 47,000 applied to be Uber/Grab drivers, a choice job of Singaporeans, to be their own boss.

Pay more and get more and better quality and services is the way forward. It never fails. Quick, quick, more fare hikes the way to go for better services.

Change is happening inside me

Two things this year prompted me to ask what is happening to me. I did not watch the NDP. And yesterday, 20 Aug, I did not watch Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally Speech as well. Both were events that I hardly missed for the last few decades. Today, I did not even bother to catch up on repeat telecasts or reading the papers to find out what was happening. There was no desire, interest or anticipation of wanting to watch the NDP or wanting to listen to Hsien Loong’s rally speech, like non events, expecting nothing worth spending time on.
 
Maybe I am getting old, tired, losing interest of what is going on. Maybe becoming apathetic, blasé, nothing matters anymore. I glanced through some comments in the social media that said the speech was banal, missing all the important issues troubling the people. I glanced through the main media only to find that the main issues raised by Hsien Loong were about pre school, diabetes and smart cities. Not that these are unimportant, but definitely not something that I would have written and put much thoughts into them. Ok, I may have written some comments about smart cities and dumb people or smart cities making people stupid, but would not think they are issues that demand much attention when there are many more serious issues that are apparently unsolvable and posing a threat to the good life of Singaporeans.
 
Maybe these are good reasons why I did not bother to listen to the rally speech. What else is there to interest me to want to waste my little precious time left on? There are so many madnesses in world affairs and domestic issues that would still be stirring inside me, made me feeling unease, to keep me want to question and be concerned about, to want to write about.
 
Did I miss anything for being tiada apa over the NDP or National Day Rally? Or is there anything important that I have missed?

North Korea’s nuclear capability makes the world safer

Kim Jung Un has succeeded in stopping the world’s number one rogue country from conducting a nuclear strike against his people. Like it or not, living with a myth or a delusion, the Americans can go on pretending that North Korea is not a nuclear power by not recognizing it, but the days the Americans can bully North Korea, can threaten a pre emptive nuclear strike is over. The world’s most bellicose country, the USA, is now prevented from doing the most evil thing they have been trying to do all these years, the right to strike first using nuclear weapons. This is American policy of war.
 
North Korea’s possession of a nuclear strike capability is now an obstacle to the mad and warmongering Americans to conduct nuclear wars. North Korea is now a new member of the forces that would stop the Americans from thinking it can hit anyone it likes with impunity. North Korea, China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran, and the number is growing, are the nation states that would stand up as the ring of armour against the rogue Empire to stop it from its reckless and fetish craving for wars and making wars.
 
The world is now safer with North Korea joining the ranks of nuclear power against the world’s number one rogue Empire. Naïve Arab countries that were conned into believing that the Americans would leave them in peace should they give up their nuclear weapon programmes are the living dead, living monuments of American aggression and invasion. Look at poor Iraq and Libya, testaments to their innocence and stupidity to believe in the American lies. They are now paying a very heavy price for believing in the American guile of peace.
 
Kim Jung Un and the North Koreans have stood firm and are now safe as a nation, as a people, from an American invasion. Together with other nuclear capable countries, they would make it increasingly difficult for the mad Americans to think of starting a nuclear war.
 
Citizens of the world need to thank the North Koreans for making this world a safer and more peaceful place without the fear of the Americans and their nuclear weapons. This is the irony but the unpleasant truth that people of the world have been misled by the Americans not to see and not to believe, but to believe in a world controlled by the mad Americans with their thousands of nuclear weapons waiting to be unleashed to those countries that did not have such weapons. The Americans have always reserved the right to conduct preemptive strikes on any country at their whims and fancy, like Iraq, Libya and Syria. The rogue Empire is all about war, about invading other countries on fabricated lies. Trump is still talking about war with North Korea. In today’s media, it reported that Trump is working on a new war strategy in Afghanistan. Now they cannot do this so freely with more countries standing up to challenge them and with the ability to strike back if they dare to do so except to target weak countries in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America particularly Venezuela and Afghanistan.
 
This is a difficult truth to the unthinking. They have been misled by the American lies that the USA, the rogue Empire, is about peace when the truth is, they are conducting wars everywhere. Open your eyes and see the truth. Who is at wars, who is trying to start more wars? Stop being daft!
 
When the Americans say they are coming to help you, to save you, be frighten, be very frighten.

Hard core evidence from the White House that the USA is the world's number One Terrorist Nation

Below are some hard core evidence provided by a '72 years old and a Vietnam veteran' praising Trump for doing more for America & it's people in a single year than the last 4 presidents combined. His claims and credential are in his listing of '23 REAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS by president Trump that accounts for every penny of the $19 trillion his presidency & leadership has brought back to America, I defy you to prove even 1 accomplishment I've listed as a lie, I'm a gold donor lifetime member of the RNC which means I'm 1 of 48,000 republicans who receive monthly briefings from the Trump white house listing accomplishments and outlining goals for the near future ,and long term, everything I listed came directly from the RNC on behalf of our president. Source Michael Ledford 29 Aug 17.


Below are the evidence from three of the listings by this Vietnam war veteran.


#19 Eleminating Obama's illegal funding of over $60 billion a year in federal funds being given to anti US groups like Antifa & dozens of others.
#20 Eleminating the $653 BILLION dollars a year Obama spent dropping bombs & drone strikes that killed over 2 million civilians in 7 country's.
#21 Stopping the $500 million a year in Obama arms shipments to Isis and Al Queda groups in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.



Adding the above 3 facts, it is costing the Americans trillions to support terrorist organisations and terrorism and wars across the world. The is the evil Empire that have been conducting wars daily and boasting about peace.


How's that for a little hard truth? Too difficult and painful to swallow after being fooled and made to walk around like American stooges for a life time and defending the American 'goodness'?

The truth hurts.

PS. Spelling errors inherent in the quotes.